The Canadian hoops invasion — talked about for several years now — has arrived here in the desert. A record 13 Canadians have taken the floor at the Last Vegas Summer League and a number have made significant impacts so far.

“This is a very special summer for Canadian basketball,” Roy Rana, the head coach of Canada’s junior men’s national team and at Ryerson University,” told the Sun.

Rana is spending some time with the Raptors and also is a guest coach with the Utah Jazz.

“Anybody that is here to see it in Vegas can’t be anything but just be so proud for where our kids have gotten, and how they are representing now that they are here,” he said.

No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins, of course, is leading the way, averaging 13.7 points, 1.7 blocks and the same number of steals, while filling up the highlight reel. His Cleveland teammate and fellow top pick, Anthony Bennett has done the same, turning heads as he rebounds from his poor rookie season.

“He is healthy, he is fitter and he has got some hunger and he is showing (what he can do),” Rana said.

The gym has been packed for every Cleveland game and Wiggins and Bennett have been the reason why.

Bennett has averaged 14 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Cavs, one of the top teams at this event.

Nik Stauskas, the No. 8 pick, averaged 13 points and a couple of assists, while shooting 56% from three over his first three outings for the Kings.

Tyler Ennis, who went 10 picks later to Phoenix, stuffed the stat-sheet with averages of six points, five rebounds, 3.3 assists and two steals per game over his first three for Phoenix.

Montreal’s Khem Birch is making a bold statement. The former McDonald’s All-American, who surprisingly was not drafted in the second round, has made a strong case to stick around in Washington, averaging 7.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, while hitting 9-of-13 shots in the first portion of the tournament.

“I think it is just a new normal. This is kind of what it is now and that’s what is so exciting,” Rana said of all of the high-level Canadians.

“For Canadian basketball fans, they are going to have a lot to follow for quite some time.”

Kamloops big man Kelly Olynyk, of the Boston Celtics, averaged 17.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game at the Orlando Summer League.

Raptors get crushed

Like many gamblers in this town, the Raptors went way up Wednesday, before losing it all.

Leading 56-30 at the half against Houston behind 12 points in 12 minutes from Bruno Caboclo, the team collapsed in spectacular fashion scoring an all-time LVSL-low five points in the third quarter while being outscored 27-5 in the frame.

The fourth did not go much better, with Houston quickly taking the lead and cruising from there in an eventual 93-77 crushing.

BOBCATS SHAKE UP EAST

All of a sudden the Eastern Conference is wide open and extremely intriguing.

It started with LeBron James making the Cavs a contender and the Heat far weaker and Wednesday, Lance Stephenson bolted for Charlotte, making the defending regular-season conference champions significantly worse. Stephenson accepted a three-year, $27 million U.S. deal from Charlotte, giving the Hornets, already a playoff team that excels defensively, another disruptive defender, who also provides a much-needed boost of offence.

Few teams had more trouble scoring than the Hornets and Stephenson should complement Kemba Walker well.

Stephenson had earlier turned down a five-year, $44-million contract from Indiana, the team that drafted him in the second round.

Suddenly, the Heat and Pacers, long the top dogs in the conference, look like teams that could be fighting merely to stay in the top four next season and certainly a notch behind Cleveland, Chicago and maybe even Toronto and Washington.

AROUND THE RIM

James favourite James Jones has also left Miami for Cleveland, signing a one-year deal ... Brandon Rush signed with Golden State, after he battled back from a second ACL tear ... Washington added DeJuan Blair in a sign-and-trade with Dallas after earlier bringing in Kris Humphries and Paul Pierce ... Orlando has replaced Jameer Nelson with Luke Ridnour ... Indiana will add long-time Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey to help make up for the loss of Stephenson ... Amidst ample recent speculation that Kevin Durant would strongly consider his hometown Wizards as a free agent in 2016, the club has added Durant’s former high school coach ... Former Raptors Ed Davis signed a two-year deal with the Lakers, according to Yahoo!

Canadians the star of the show at NBA Summer League

The Canadian hoops invasion — talked about for several years now — has arrived here in the desert. A record 13 Canadians have taken the floor at the Last Vegas Summer League and a number have made significant impacts so far.

“This is a very special summer for Canadian basketball,” Roy Rana, the head coach of Canada’s junior men’s national team and at Ryerson University,” told the Sun.

Rana is spending some time with the Raptors and also is a guest coach with the Utah Jazz.

“Anybody that is here to see it in Vegas can’t be anything but just be so proud for where our kids have gotten, and how they are representing now that they are here,” he said.

No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins, of course, is leading the way, averaging 13.7 points, 1.7 blocks and the same number of steals, while filling up the highlight reel. His Cleveland teammate and fellow top pick, Anthony Bennett has done the same, turning heads as he rebounds from his poor rookie season.